A Different Kind of Community • Gabriel Sanches • Sunday 31 May 2026

Good afternoon, church.

I grew up in a Christian home and I went to a Christian school when I was a kid.

So most of my early childhood I spent in or around church and that was the case until I was about nine where my dad left us so me and my mom ended up having to make a decision on were we gonna stay where we were or were we gonna step out into what the Lord was calling us to.

So We began the long and arduous journey of coming to the UK.

My mom calls a church that we were connected to and they say that they're willing to put us up until we're on our feet.

So we come over, we're staying at this church and two months later they kick us out.

So for two years, we were homeless.

We slept in our car, we couch surfed, we stayed in bed and breakfasts.

All the while, through the ages of nine, 10, 11, 12, I had to wrestle with the question of if the church is meant to represent Jesus, then why did it do what it did to me? But then I met the church, capital C, the church that came and helped us financially, but they helped us emotionally, but more than that, they sat with us where we were, and they told us to look higher, to God, to Jesus.

That's all to say that I love the church, not the church building, not the church institution, but the church, the followers, of Jesus Christ.